April 2 - LITTLETON - Colleges and universities across the state were roundly scolded Thursday for toothless affirmative action plans in harshly worded reviews by Colorado's higher education commissioners and staff.
The only schools earning passing grades were the University of ColoradoColorado Springs, Adams State College in Alamosa, Metropolitan State College in Downtown Denver and the CU Health Sciences Center in east Denver. Every other state four-year school was admonished for lacking specific goals and accountability.
Schools reported minority graduation rates ranging from 8 percent to 27 percent in 1998 and submitted plans detailing diversity programs and campus support centers, student and faculty recruitment efforts and ethnic curriculum. But most avoided numeric goals.
Higher education commissioners said they were disappointed after shifting oversight for minority graduation goals to the schools. The commission ditched its minority graduation requirements (in most cases 18.6 percent by the year 2000 to reflect the high school graduation rate) in favor of a policy requiring schools to set their own goals and show "continuous improvement.'' It also rescinded financial penalties for schools failing to meet annual goals.
"The plans are so unspecific and general it's almost insulting,'' Commissioner Lawrence Atler said. "It makes me want to go back in the closet and pick up the clubs we call financial detriments. I want to see specific accountability and consequences.''
Schools have a July deadline to respond to the criticism.
Statewide, the minority enrollment rate is 19 percent (30,000 students) and the graduation rate is 17.3 percent.
"The Colorado School of Mines has a decidedly apologetic tone,'' in its plan, said James Sulton, academic officer for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, who analyzed the plans. On CU at Boulder, Sulton said: "Their fear of (reverse-discrimination) litigation has them proposing a risk-(free) approach. They need a plan with teeth in it.'' CU-Boulder is putting in more benchmarks to gauge progress, said David Groth, vice-president for academic affairs for the CU system, noting that 280 faculty and staff members from four campuses attended a university-sponsored diversity conference Wednesday.
"Institutions statewide have been working on new plans and I don't think any of us feel like our plans are perfect yet. We're still all still working on it. We're very committed,'' he said.
While all schools showed strong commitment to affirmative action plans, "commitment won't buy you a cup of coffee on the street,'' Sulton said. "You've got to convert commitment into results.''
CSU called "less ambitious'
Colorado State University is "less ambitious than it should be ... and has been roundly criticized for cutting its target goals in half for graduating students of color,'' Sulton said.
"We plan on redoubling every effort so minority enrollment increases every year and we'll do our darndest to see that it happens,'' said CSU Provost Loren Crabtree. "We think there's some very concrete steps we're taking and we'll be able to measure those steps.''
In Durango, Fort Lewis College's goals "seem designed to prevent failure rather than enable success,'' Sulton said, while the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo "simply does not have a solid approach. It lists projects already in place.''
Copyright 1999 The Denver Post.